Author Archives: hugh

About hugh

I live off-grid in NW Scotland and have spent my life playing with wind turbines. I also love small hydros. Hands on renewable energy is my thing and I like to learn and to share my experiences.

Interesting tower for 2.4m machine at Tempelhof Berlin

Posted on 12/10/2016 by hugh

Thanks to Windrad THF for these pics of a nice 2.4m diameter recipe book turbine at Tempelhof.  Here is a link to the video of the erection process. http://www.energiezukunft.eu/projekte/inland/ein-selfmade-windrad-fuer-das-tempelhofer-feld-gn104296/ This video is a fast forward and plays 8 times as fast … Continue reading →

Posted in construction, People | Leave a comment

Please make sure you give us your correct address

Posted on 18/09/2016 by hugh

It’s a bit heartbreaking to think of this book going around to the other side of the world and back at great expense just because whoever ordered it failed to check that the address they gave us was complete.  It’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Books | Leave a comment

Wind turbine news from Belgium

Posted on 26/08/2016 by hugh

Hello Mr piggott, I’m Fabian, 36 years old, from Belgium. First i want to congrulate you for the invention of this fabulous generator. I’m a member from “atoutvent2000“, the most active group in belgium for self made wind turbine. I … Continue reading →

Posted in construction, People | 1 Comment

HOMEBREW WIND POWER WORKSHOPS — NORTH CAROLINA, OCT – NOV 2016

Posted on 23/08/2016 by hugh

Wind Turbine Design and Construction Workshop – October 31 – November 5, 2016 – at the Handy Village Institute, Graham, North Carolina ALSO: Wind Turbine Towers Workshop – November 7 – 12, 2016 – at the Handy Village Institute, Graham, … Continue reading →

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Tales of Woe

Posted on 21/08/2016 by hugh

Over the years I lot of people have phoned me with tales of woe about small wind turbines.  I am sympathetic of course, because I know how it feels first hand but I have become hardened over the years.  I … Continue reading →

Posted in UK small wind scene | 7 Comments

How to make an AC heater act as a charge controller

Posted on 06/08/2016 by hugh

I have just added a page about how to build a Tristar Follower (as I call it) that uses an AC heater connected to your inverter to dump surplus power (usually into heating water) when the battery does not need … Continue reading →

Posted in construction, my own projects, products/technical | 1 Comment

21-30th October: “Build a small wind turbine” construction course in Nea Makri, Greece

Posted on 02/08/2016 by hugh

Kostas is holding another course near Athens in October.  The course will be held in English and it follows the usual pattern – predominantly practical work learning new skills and gaining a deeper understanding of the concepts.  More here

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Workshop story from TU Delft

Posted on 29/07/2016 by hugh

Here’s a nice concise description of a course run by Tripalium in France using my design. Students from TU Delft Energy Club went to France for a practical workshop. They came back with a working wind turbine that they now want … Continue reading →

Posted in construction, courses, France, People | Leave a comment

Low cost MPPT heating controller for wind turbines

Posted on 24/07/2016 by hugh

Schams Electronic in Germany make some neat little MPPT controllers for solar and for wind. The Windmax MPPT controllers are modular, built from 500W units, with capacity up to 2.5kW.  These controllers have built-in protection against over-voltage when the battery … Continue reading →

Posted in products/technical | 3 Comments

Alex Burgos’ overvoltage clipper

Posted on 16/07/2016 by hugh

Alex sent me an email: I hope you are well I am writing to show my CLIPPER I tried it with my 12 volt turbine I have the Tristar ts-60 dc and ac Clipper The CLIPPER use it to control … Continue reading →

Posted in construction, People, products/technical, wind systems tutorial | Leave a comment